The writer never explains.. who's damned. I'm guessing from his conclusion he thinks it's MINUSTAH and not the over 500,000 Haitians who were infected with cholera, nor even the over 7,000 dead.

More deaths in Haiti from the "peacekeeping" mission of MINUSTAH than the U.S. and its allies have had in both Iraq and Afghanistan. There's a war on Haiti and the people are dying on the battlefield from a DELIBERATE attempt to use bioterrorism to "thin the herd." How sad for those who have no humanity or conscience and who think that the poor are so much garbage that must be swept out of parks and public squares.

Haitian victims are blamed and called "ungrateful" for seeking redress for all the injustices they have suffered at the hands of the American empire and its nation state partners who from the proxy occupying force deployed to keep real democracy from developing and to suppress the most popular political party in Haiti because of its tendency to listen to the voice of the population.

I guess there's no way to do an injustice to Haitians -- no matter that the UN military occupation has committed massacres, rapes, and other crimes against humanity since the start of this brutal occupation. Even when science and video documentation show their guilt -- those who advocate for the 1% turn a deaf ear.

The UN has a budget of over 800,000 in Haiti -- this is a profitable occupation for their member states... a chance to pander to empire. And in Brazil's instance, a bid to be a permanent member of the security council -- fat chance!

Not one single dollar of this UN occupation has been spent to find a sustainable solution to the cholera outbreak brought on by this military force. Though of course barricaded behind their secure and self-contained compounds, they've made sure that their water is safe.

Since the UN have imported the disease into Haiti, the UN has spent more energy in denials, lies and political manipulations than in finding a solution. The UN head at the time, Mulet said that the Mirebalais Nepalese base latrine was not only up to international standards, but it was up to EPA STANDARDS.

The cholera outbreak in Haiti (Haiti has no history of cholera) is the most deadly one in the world) -- kind of ironic that this occupation is being lead by Brazil. This time they get to play the settlers/cowboys. What ingrates considering that Haiti supplied Miranda and Bolivar with men and arms when they came to Haiti for help in mounting their revolutions that liberated at least five countries from colonial occupation and because Haiti's leaders insisted -- freed the slaves.

The arc of history bends toward justice... and justice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Those are not platitudes. These are time honored truths. This is why the 99% has united and the storm troopers who protect the 1% stand no chance against a people united.

The U.S. has been kicked out of Iraq because they could not get the Iraqis to sign away the right to get redress for the atrocities they commit in their country, Haitians need to do the same. Haitians should also hold real elections and get rid of the black overseers being handled by the puppet masters at the State Dept, U.S. Embassy (Haiti is site of the 4th or 5th largest U.S. embassy in the world ) the Clintons, USAID and other agents employed by US agencies. The US Congress has legislated that upwards of 90% of aid to Haiti be "TIED" and returned to the U.S. Make no mistake Haiti is being exploited -- they are making money from the suffering of the people.

Haiti is still recovering from the devastating effects of the tsunami and earthquakes, so whether the person from Nepal brought the cholera or not, the UN should supply the medication. This country can simply not afford to pay for their own medication. This may also create a slippery slope though if the UN did not cause the outbreak, then other countries may want to ask for similar medications that they need. Regardless, the UN should compensate Haiti for the worst parts of the outbreak, if not all.

If the UN does not pay compensation for the Cholera victims, it is not acting above it's own laws. How can the UN be held responsible for the out break of this disease if there is no proof and it mainly infects through the uncleanness of water. The UN can not be held responsible for the out break of a disease even if they did carry it. If and when they spread the disease they were trying to help the people of Haiti and it was not a deliberate act.

Did the Minustah cause the cholera outbreak? Probably. Should the UN be liable for the damages reported? Absolutely not. The amount of money and aid that poured into Haiti after the earthquake from other countries far outweighs these damages. I know one way for sure that we can avoid problems like this in the future, leave Haiti and let them deal with their own affairs internally. I think we all know how that will go, but the UN won't have to deal with these kinds of problems anymore. The cholera outbreak is tragic, and I'm not trying to diminish that fact, but the Haitian government cannot accept aid with open arms, and then demand restitution when something like this happens. The risk of disease is always present when you have such poor infrastructure and limited access to clean water.

Read the article for comprehension like you were supposed to learn in school. The Haitian gov't is NOT filing the claim. The cholera victims and their families are. And modern genetic science can easily determine the source of the cholera, which it has, and it was the Nepelese soldiers. The UN IS liable, by its own rules. Just because no one has held them accountable to those rules in the past does not mean the rules disappeared, nor that UN forces are now immune from responsibility.
Along with reports of UN 'peacekeeping' forces committing rape in Congo, a reasonable person would wonder if a chill in deployment is such a bad thing.

While the UN is not necessarily to blame for this outbreak, they have some of the capabilities to help stop the outbreak and bring medicine to Haiti. The $250 m is up for debate, but they should work on some solution to help the Haitians. The UN is in a country like Haiti with the best intentions, and this should be resolved amicably.

Troop Contributing Countries receive substantial financial compensation from the UN for every soldier and his/her equipment. While for high cost countries (ie developed) there's still a substantial altruistic element, many TCCs from the Global South make a real profit from UN Peace-Keeping Operations (PKOs). Because TCCs often send (and bill for) sub-standard contributions, PKOs even have contingent-owned equipment inspection teams (COE). Perhaps these should be pre-emptively deployed to member states, as the African Union is now beginning to do, to ensure standards, including health. The partner / alternative is to withhold the payments when substandard contributions are sent.

Alice is right the UN bureaucrats are at fault and those responsible should be fired. The UN has to pay up, and if necessary pull out of Haiti. The UN like other profligate countries will have to learn to live within their means. Instead of hiring cheap Nepal soldiers, maybe it is better to hire more expensive professional soldiers. Soldiers that are capable of organizing their sanitary conditions. In this day and age, defecating in rivers is really not okay.

Biting the hand that feeds you literally. Just another money grab by desperate people and greedy lawyers aided by naive do gooders. A country like Haiti with almost nonexistant sanitary conditions and every transmittable infection it is a crock.

It will be very difficult, in my opinion, to prove guilt in this sticky situation between Haiti and the UN. There are too many environmental factors that play a role in this situation to obtain a concise conclusion. However, it was obviously not the intention of the UN to cause an outbreak. Whether they are guilty or not, I do believe they have a duty to help Haiti through this crisis because there job is to help keep peace. There is so much liability and blame that has come with this situation, that I believe the best solution at this point is for the UN to provide necessary assistance to Haiti in order to regain peace and for Haiti to accept assistance without placing blame.

Whether it was the UN's intention or not to cause cholera to be introduced into a country already flat on its back from such a monstrous earthquake, it is nevertheless what happened. If, while driving, we unintentionally hit another car, or person, or road side object, we must still accept responsibility.
We can argue whether the UN's negligence was 'intentional' or not (I'm sure the victim's attorneys will make a good case that the negligence was willful), but it makes no difference to the peace keeping operation's responsibility for the epidemic. If the PKO didn't have liability insurance (like we all must if we want to drive), that circumstance supports the notion of willfulness for their negligent behavior.

If they can't prove that the cholera is from the arrival of the Minustah then they definitely should not complain. The UN is trying to help Haiti and it doesn't seem like Haiti is being grateful at all. The US is having a hard enough time right now with the economy, how do they expect us to give them more money? It seems really rude to me and I agree with jgjgjg, maybe we shouldn't try to help Haiti ever again.

This just so happens to be a case of when "natural disasters result in natural devastation." This is by no means the fault of the UN for providing assistance to an area ravaged by complete chaos, but whose hand is in the cookie jar? I sympathize with the total despair that has been placed upon the Haitian citizen, but I wholeheartedly disagree with the groupthink of the 5000+ individuals who have chosen to use their curable infection as a source of financial gain. Can't wait to see how the UN makes this disappear.

This a very difficult situation for the UN to be in. They have negative consequences either way the decision could go, so there is no clear cut remedy to the situation. I can definitely see the justification in what the IJDH is trying to do with the claims they submitted. They are just trying to help Haiti and the victims that have suffered from the disease, and bring awareness to the situation. Yet, as stated in the article, peacekeeping missions usually have legal immunity for a reason. If any legal actions do occur, it could change how other peacekeeping missions will feel about providing aid in the future.

Since when the UN has taken a proactive approach to intervening in other countries not wanting to upset any other nations or god forbid get their hands dirty. Concannon is correct when he said, "this is an opportunity to demonstrate that it is not above its own laws" however the UN will most likely not delightfully surprise anyone hiding behind their own legal immunity playing the innocent victum just working to help Haiti, a poor developing country.

This case has placed the UN and Haiti in a very dubious situation. No Haitian citizen would have denied the UN troops access when they were called in to help, but since the long process has devolved into bedlhem and chaos many are reneging on their desire for international aid. However taking the country's anger out on those trying to help is the absolute worst recourse option. Not only does it make Haiti seem unappreciative but who knows what future implications it could have for future disaster aid. While acknowledging the UN's involvement in the spread of colera is a noble idea, seeking reparations is the entirely wrong approach. Haiti should search internally for what deficiencies have led such an outbreak and move from there to fix the problem. Money does nit fix problems, innovative and progressive action does.

How could a responsible leadership deploy troops from a country that just got over a major epidemic without testing them first? If the UN leadership didn’t know about the disease in Nepal, they *should* have. And if they *did* know, why didn’t they take the necessary steps to guard against transmission of the disease? Further, why was the sanitation so lax at the base that the troops were deployed at?

If a corporation did something like this, the outcry would be deafening and the liability astronomical (think what happened to BP). Something similar has to happen in this case. Indeed, the accountability has to be even more strict because it was done by a body entrusted with the public good, and they failed to deliver on that primary mandate. Indeed, through their negligence they made things worse.

This case has to tried in a public court, and if the UN is deemed accountable, then the directors are accountable for the deaths of those civilians. This accountability is independent of the UN immunity from the local laws because the UN as a whole is accountable at a supra-national level. So are its directors.

Hey Alice: take a look at the current demands on UN deploymants, then rethink your statements. The UN is responding planetwide to incidents which appear to be within the UN mandate. If you have better planning and strategy capabilities get over to New York and volunteer your services.
I am all for shutting down all UN deployments because they only serve to provide relief to the ashles who are causing the problems.

It is the job of management to deploy the resources under their control effectively and responsibly. If an operation fails because those resources were *not* deployed responsibly, then to claim as an excuse that their resources were spread too thin to effectively monitor is a damnation in itself for it shows that management abandoned its control function. If BP had said that its Deepwater Horizon platform failed because they were too busy elsewhere to monitor it properly, they would have been held even *more* accountable, for it would have shown that management was irresponsible, and that irresponsibility was a direct factor in the accident. Same thing here.

I would personally like to see public servants held to a higher standard than the general population so that they lead by example, but they should at least be held to the same standard.

Haiti needs the money, but this is just rude. I such a time of financial crisis, how is the US supposed to help. Also, it will be hard to prove if the cholera actually was a result of the Minustah arriving. This was obviously not intentional and I think the UN should begin to help them overcome this "violence" just as they were trying to prevent the violence in the country... not because it was their fault, but because the UN wants/needs to help.

I am assuming because since the Tourist UN Troops in Haiti are there with the best of intentions the natives should allow them to behave in such a irresponsible manner with no care of how they effect the country. Comments such as this arrogant and inconsiderate one is the reason why Haiti is in this predicament.
Please leave forever UN..that's what the Haitian people want. They are not doing anything to curtail crime nor helping in the reconstruction of the country. So what's their real purpose when the UN troops are doing more harm than good? Instead we hear reports of raping of young boys. Haiti maybe is a poor country but she has self respect and deserve to be treated fairly. So much for the high moral grounds of UN and friends of Haiti. Our neighbor the Dominican Republic has done more than all of the so called friends for Haiti which also is suffering from this cholera epidemic..All thanks to UN troops.